Leah Cartwell: Year One
by RainbowShift
Summary: The story follows the life, classes and troubles of Leah Cartwell in her seven years at Hogwarts. This book is the first in the series.
1. Chapter 1: Supplies

**A/N: This is my first ever Harry Potter fanfic which I have written. I really hope you like it! **

**-RS**

A small smile played across my lips as my older brother sat across from me and thumbed open the sandy coloured envelope. Jake snapped off the maroon wax stamp before it scattered across the table, settling just beside my arm and glistening from the sunlight slipping in from an open blind. I traced an index finger across the body of Slytherin's snake and lightly tapped the wing of the eagle. Jake cleared his throat and flashed me a grin, a quick wink and started to chant, "Leah's gonna go to Hogwarts with me."

My hand snapped out and nearly tore the thick pages out of his hand. I read them. Then reread them. Mum came in to peer at them over my shoulder and flicked her wand at the kitchen cupboards. A stack of musky smelling books levitated over to us and landed on the table with a small tap. "I knew you'd get in so myself and Jake went out to get most of your things since we know you hate shopping. The only thing we need to get you tomorrow is a wand.. Oh, yes yes, we need to get you a pet too." My mother was reminded by a sleek shadow hopping into the kitchen through the window and settling itself on Jake's left shoulder. Dolly purred at Jake's slow touches underneath her chin and arched her neck to give him a better angle. In my eyes, the cat didn't seem like it had changed at all since it was a kitten (it definitely hadn't grown much, hence how it was able to fit so neatly onto Jake's shoulder).

My tongue started tapping against my top lips as I thought about having a Dolly. That was the decision which worried me the most back then. I guess, looking back now, I should have been worrying more about what house I was going to be sorted into seeming as that was what was going to decide how I'd live for the next seven years. "D'you think Dolly would get along with an owl?" Dolly looked at me with her deep black eyes and (I know it's impossible but shut up) some sense of sorrow. My mother and brother let out cries of laughter at my innocence.

"You're honestly worrying about that!" It wasn't a question, per se.

"Why shouldn't I? I-I'm worrying about everything but... But at the same time I'm really excited."

* * *

><p>It seemed the next months were just a blur of preparation and, well... Nerves! Even when the last week August rolled around one lazy Monday, I still didn't feel like I was ready to go there, to live like a Witch and to live there. We (just me and Jake, mum was too busy food shopping) had planned to go and pick out my wand- or rather for my wand to pick out me. As soon as we turnedthe corner of Diagon Alley the noise hit me square in the chest like a bullet and all the nerves which had been building up like a steel wall inside me slowly faded away. Why had I been so afraid? It was only school. And the Wizarding World was ever so exciting. Jake placed a hand on my shoulder and steered me towards Ollivander's, explaining why he wasn't coming with me, "I need to pick up some fifth year books. Come into Florish's when your ready. Good luck in there L!" He smiled his crooked little smile and strode over to the book store, leaving me to almost be swallowed up by the crowd but instead I was forced to back up against a shop door. Then, suddenly, the door creaked open and I fell back into something which was a lot softer and warmer.<p>

"Watch yourself there!" I spun round quickly, propped up now by soft hands, and was met by a crooked smile which matched my brother's. He was a second year, I could tell by his youthful face which had matured slightly more than my own. My instincts quickly took over from my awe though and I took a step back, only to bang my head on the now shut door of the shop. The boy caught my arm quickly before I smacked my head against the floor too. My instincts once again took over and I rolled my eyes at my own clumsiness.

"I swear that I'm not usually like that." I giggled and he laughed too, with his crooked smile. A hand which looked more like my own size tugged on the hem of the second year's shirt and coughed slightly. "Oh sorry," I stepped out of the way of the door and, for the first time in that shop, I looked into the boys' eyes and they both looked back. The older one smiled and wished me the best of luck in Hogwarts. Then the younger one paused at the door, gave me a quick look and simply said, "Slytherin, hm?"

The door clattered shut before I could even answer and then a different kind of Wizard met my eyes. He was old, frail and I reckoned that, if I had one, my grandfather would probably have a face like that. I fidgeted with my fingers as he looked at me, eyebrows raised and eyes twinkling in the candle-lit room. "Excuse me, sir. Do you know the way to Ollivander's? I seem to have accidentally... Fallen into your shop."

The old man raised his arms high into the air and beckoned to the shelves all around him. While following his gestures I noticed the boxes piled high, both old and new. "Why, my child... You're in exactly the right place, no accident about it." I could feel my own eyes lighting up and my stomach fluttered with butterflies.

I must have spent at least an hour trying out all the different wands and, it seemed, also talking to Ollivander. He was an interested Wizard with more than the odd story to tell. The next box he pulled out from a shelf wasn't dusty at all, it was almost brand new, probably never opened.

The man sighed and spoke in his whispery voice, croaking even, "Hmm... 17 inches, hawthorn with dragon heartstring. Light but inflexible." I placed it lightly in my hand and rolled my fingers over it three times before swishing it around my head like had done with the past ten or so wands. It was like the room glowed, like actually glowed. Ollivander seemed to have a relieved look on his face when I had finished doing this and I flashed a grin at him as I placed it back into the box and pushed the bag of galleons towards him. I gave him a nod in thanks, my long raven hair flicked forward as I did this and shuffled out of the shop. The street was already starting to get quieter and I stepped out into the crowd. I dodged a few of the people and skipped onto the other end of the street just outside Florish and Blotts. I noticed the sign in the window, just an hour until closing time. Jake had been in there for a long time, surely he would have finished and come to get her by then.

The door easily creaked open as I splayed my hands out on the wood and pushed it open. Despite the store nearly closing, there were still quite a few customers in there and I had to search around for another ten minutes until I found him, leaning against a bookcase with a pile of books clutched to his chest. I ducked behind a bookcase nearest to be and peered out, just able to hear his voice to a small apricot haired girl in his year. "Come oooooooooon, Scarlett! As much as I love hanging out with you, I really need to get home with my sister."

Scarlett picked up another book and gave it a quick flick through before answering in a voice which sounded like it had just come from a siren's mouth. "I'll just be a second. And, did I just hear you give me a compliment? Oh how out of character you have been today."

I nearly jumped as I felt somebody's breath on my neck and a hand on my shoulder. That hand had been on me three times that day. "Who we spying on?" The second year boy smiled (again) and I smiled back, missing what Jake had said back to the girl. I turned around to face him in his grip and shook away the question with my head.

"Just my brother... He's such a Ravenclaw," I rolled my eyes and he laughed, "You never told me your name."

"Terin. Slytherin." He stuck out the hand which had been placed on my arm and I reluctantly shook it. He was in Slytherin? But-But how...

I heard the voice of Terin's brother from behind him, "Slytherin, hm?"

**A/N: Hopefully the next chapter will be a little longer as in the next one I plan to include Leah's first day in Hogwarts and, of course, her sorting! **

**-RS**


	2. Chapter 2: Sorting

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading. This chapter length is hopefully going to be the normal length of a chapter from now on. **

**-RS**

I blinked the sleep from my eyes and stared at the clock ticking away on my desk. I remember how my neck seemed like it had clicked into place when I lifted it that morning and how I had to fumble my robes onto my body and almost tumble down the stairs with all the luggage. "Geez either of you could have helped me."

My mother, Dolly and Luke, along with my younger brother, Marco, (he was nine at the time and so not quite old enough to be joining me that year) stared me up and down. I had a stereotypical "First Year look": Too much luggage, robes too big and new excitement in their eyes rimmed by dark circles made from staying up too late in the holidays reading textbooks. My brother shrugged, "I guess it's too funny to watch you struggle." Then he stabbed a piece of bacon with his knife and swallowed it whole, picking up the bits of fat and feeding them to Dolly who was perched on his shoulder. Her fur was the exact same colour as Jake's hair: sleek and black. That's probably why he's so good at Transfiguration. Jake nudged me lightly with his foot and opened his mouth to speak gently, "What house d'you think you're gonna be in? I mean... You must have given it some though, right? I just hope you're not in Ravenclaw," He grinned to let her know he was kidding, "You'll show me up in front of all my friends."

"Shut up!" I paused before properly answering his question, frantically searching for an answer they would want to hear. The entire family on my mum's side had always been Ravenclaw... Then Jake had been sorted into Ravenclaw. It felt like I betrayed them if I told them I didn't want to be there, I wanted to be different. I think, looking back at this answer, it might have been their first inkling that I wasn't like them and that their world would soon fall apart. "I guess it's the Sorting Hat's decision. So it doesn't matter what I want to be." Jake stole a slice of bread from my plate and I kicked him, a little harder than I wanted to but he acted like he didn't feel it. That was Jake. Jake all over. Always wanting to please and be nice to people, smiling at everyone like smiles didn't cost him anything. I flicked back to a week ago when he had ditched me for that girl in Florish and Blotts before quickly shaking the image out of my head. He was a fifth year. Of course he was going to be with girls his age, he was nearly sixteen for christ sake! Once again I was jolted back to the present by a soft hand brushing some loose hairs out of my face and lips squashed against my cheek. My mum smiled warmly and from that distance I could see her wrinkles around her mouth which became so defined when she smiled like somebody had drawn them on with a marker pen.

"Good luck, Leah."

* * *

><p>The wall sucked him in and the last thing I saw was his thick hair disappear through the bricks. Marco stood behind me with a sly grin playing across his youthful face and, before I knew it, he had pushed me into the wall. Instantly the scene changed from a quiet modern station at King's Cross to a roaring platform with steam billowing into the air above my head. I felt warm and familiar hands on my back again and they were steering me over to the door of the brilliant red train. I didn't have the time nor attention to be mad at Marco anymore, I was just full of nerves and excitement. Mum kissed us goodbye, promising to see us again at Christmas whilst my terrible little brother stuck out his tongue playfully. The doors clattered shut a few seconds after we stepped onto the train and I was almost jolted forward by the sudden movement on the train. Jake was instantly hounded by his friends and... Girls who pulled him into a nearby carriage and shut the door. I shuffled along the train, searching for a seat so that I didn't get knocked over or stumble and embarrass myself before I even properly got to school.<p>

There seemed to be an empty carriage which was a tremendous distance away from Jake's that I didn't even bother to count. I pushed the door open and, thankfully, slipped onto one of the seats. A small white ball of fluff curled up besides me too, the same size as Dolly except it was white. I never said what pet I got, did I? Matilda blinked up at me with wide black eyes before nudging my hand with her nose. Yeah, I got a cat. Matilda was the exact same shape and size and had a similar attitude to Dolly except she was white. They were like twins and I still can't get over how cute they looked together, like ying and yang.

As always, I had been daydreaming, gazing out of the window with emotionless eyes when my mind was elsewhere. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a small grunt and a shadow fell over my body along with crashes and loud grunts above my head. I blinked my blurred eyes and stared upwards, ready to question the person - or, rather, the thing which made the noises. Then the body flopped down onto the seat next to me, clearly finished with its loud task. "Hey. Sorry, the carriage isn't taken, is it?" I shook my head at his question, "Ah right. My friends'll be coming in soon too." The boy next to me looked like a fourth year at least, his arms and general build was that of a Beater's and his hair was some light shade of strawberry blonde. His eyes were grey, like my own and held something deeper than he probably would have liked to admit.

A much smaller girl was pressed up against the door of our carriage and crashed through it almost, two hard leathered suitcases nearly came falling down on her if it wasn't for the fourth year boy who grunted and caught them with just one hand. "Geez, Terin. Why do you two have such heavy suitcases... And why the heck have you made Lottie drag them up here?" A blonde second year appeared in the carriage and rubbed the back of his floppy blonde hair, embarrassed but smiling and apologised, helping the other boy pick up the luggage and help the small girl, supposedly called Lottie, up. Terin's brother then appeared next to the trio and I finally appreciated just how much he looked like his older brother, the only real difference was their size, eye colour and their shape face. Terin's face had a longer, oval face shape than his brother who had a circular face. And Terin's eyes were blue, while the younger brother's were brown.

"Hey again, clumsy."

All four of them were stood up now, looking at me as Terin waved and did a genuine smile. He was far too happy-go-lucky to be in Slytherin. "Oh yeah, none of you know each other. Guys, this is Leah, she's a first year so don't scare her off," He jokingly glared at the strawberry blonde boy, "And Leah these are Lottie, Kyle and, my brother who you've already met, Levi." Lottie smiled warmly. Kyle waved and quickly winked so Terin wouldn't see. Levi stared at me with cold eyes. The train screeched around a turn and Lottie almost fell on Matilda's tail. All of us (I say all of us, Levi didn't) laughed and agreed to sit down. Terin sat across from me, Levi next to him while Kyle sat next to me with Lottie on his right side. Matilda leapt up as soon as Kyle looked like he would be sitting next to me and settled herself down on the overhead rack with the suitcases. We all made some small talk for a while, learning about each others interests until the discussion turned into something which was more like a discussion between old friends. They made me feel like old friends. Levi didn't talk much, answering things he was asked and trying to look as cold as possible. How was he Terin's brother... Anyway, during the train journey I found out that Terin's friends were in fact his age despite Lottie looking like a first year and Kyle looking like a fourth year. I also found out that Lottie was a Hufflepuff and that Kyle was, like Terin, a Slytherin. I found it strange that these two Slytherins were so warm and kind to everyone, that was probably why they had lots of friends (even in the other houses). Groups of second years would walk past and almost all of them gave Terin, Kyle and Lottie warm smiles and greetings.

"So you two," Lottie leaned over to ask myself and Levi, "What house do you expect you'll be in?"

"Slytherin," Levi answered immediately and settled back down, resuming his private daydream. But I took longer and just decided to make the easiest lie I could.

"Ravenclaw I guess, like my brother."

Kyle snorted a little when I added the last bit of my answer and Terin kicked him. The boy pretended not to notice, "You'll still hang out with us though? And not get all uptight with your new Ravenclaw buddies."

I laughed it off, "Nah, you're all unforgettable." It wasn't a lie, they were a pretty strange but relatively (I say this in regards to Levi, he's not really an anything) welcoming to me and I didn't think I would ever want to have any other friends. A small tap at the carriage door halted our laughing and a small woman poked her head through.

"Anything from the trolley?" Terin grinned at her and pressed some galleons into the palm of her hand before tentatively picking some of the sweets from the cluttered trolley. When he had flopped back down onto his train seat he shared some of the sweets around. I tried to protest. He had bought them himself after all and I hated to take money from people (I was far too forgetful to pay it back).

"I got them for us all. Take one, clumsy," I reached out to pick a Chocolate Frog and Terin withdrew his hand after I picked it. I glanced up from opening the deep purple packet to see him throwing a bag of sweets to Levi who caught them instantly with his left hand without even flinching or drawing his eyes away from the tree line.

* * *

><p>After the train screeched into Hogwarts' station I was separated from the people I had been talking to by a rush of first years and the surge of the crowd pouring out of the trains. Before I knew it the crowd had halted and gasps went up as people at the back of the crowd strained their next to see. People were cut off from the crowd in drips and drabs and I could finally see why: they were getting onto boats, six at a time, across a wide lake in order to get to the castle. The castle! I nearly tripped over a boat because I was looking at the castle so much. Its tall, skinny, small, fat, thick and twisted towers and spires. Its amazing structure. I wanted to take it all in, brick by brick, tower by tower, classroom by classroom. I felt a small hand tap my shoulder and I creaked my head round, slowly as I was still in awe of the magnificent structure before me. Levi was the person behind that tap and looked pretty... Scared. I realised that this was the first time I had seen him without his brother by his side. Poor kid must have been going through withdrawal problems. I was used to being away from my brother though. He was a bot of a free spirit and would just run off without me from time to time. Let us take the antics of Diagon Alley as an example. Gosh, I was still hung up on that.<p>

Our boat clattered to a stop at the bank and we rushed out, almost running up to the main entrance of the castle. Levi kept as close to me as he could do during this walking journey. When he was like that he was a lot less threatening. "Welcome first years... To Hogwarts! Now... In just a few minutes we will be walking into the Great Hall where you shall be sorted into a certain house depending on the Sorting Hat's choice. Remember that every house has is great in its own way and you shall soon grow to love it," I stood on my tiptoes to see a tall woman with cropped black hair and freckles dotted on her face. She must have been very young but still was able to be a Deputy Headmaster. The professor continued, "I do believe everyone is ready for you now. I shall call names alphabetically and, when you hear your name, you will come to the front, be sorted and then sit down at the table of your respective house. Everything clear? Good, good." She turned and pushed open the golden doors and suddenly we were being gushed forward by cheers and music blasting out at every angle. I noticed that we were already in alphabetical order and in a single file line. While I wondered how that happened the first years in front of me were quickly sorted through.

I turned my attention back to the sortings though. Blaze Godfrey, Gryffindor. Three Hufflepuffs. A Ravenclaw. Another Gryffindor. Two Slytherins. Another Ravenclaw. Kieran Durrell, a long pause until finally the hat's voice rang out: Slytherin. I counted down the three students left in front of me: Gryffindor, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

"Leah Cartwell." I took and deep breath and felt Levi's hand pat me on the back and nudge me forward. There was a crooked old chair and I settled down on it, gazing around the crowd as the hat was placed onto my head. I could see Terin waving and, on another table, Luke's face smile at me. Lottie and Kyle were somewhere I couldn't see but almost everyone's eyes were my way, some on the edge of their seats, others not really caring any more. "Hmm..." The hat's voice was a whisper, "This one is tricky. Inquisitive... Ravenclaw? No... Something else? Shall we put you in Hufflepuff maybe? You could thrive there, make friends, be at peace- oh... Oh. What is that? Hmm tricky. We could put you into those two houses. You're not a showboat though so Gryffindor is a no-no for you." I had heard of something called a hat stall where the Sorting Hat was at a loss for what house a student should be in and took a long time to figure it out. His (I was guessing the hat was a he) was stuck for a while, muttering to himself. Until I finally heard: "Is that a desire for intelligence or a desire for love? No, I know. You have an inquisitive mind indeed... But it is a different type of inquisitiveness... Ah, yes... SLYTHERIN!"

My heart seemed to sink. The hat was pulled off my head and cheers went up from the emerald green table. I stumbled over to them, not looking to the Ravenclaw table at all in case I saw my brother's face. I quietly searched for a seat and found one opposite a strawberry blonde boy and a few first year girls. The boy kicked me and I looked up. Kyle winked and laughed. It seemed I had found Kyle. Levi was up next though, straight after me. The Sorting Hat didn't take much time with him though, "Slytherin." He instantly found a seat next to me and started to poke through some food, clearly not shocked at the hat's decision.

A small smirk danced across Levi's lips and he cut open some type of meat before saying to me: "I told you... Slytherin, heh."


	3. Chapter 3: Two Periods

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading this. In this Chapter, Leah attends her first two lessons of the year and discovers that they were not what she was expecting. -RS**

My first night at Hogwarts was largely unspectacular. Hogwarts and the whole idea of it was spectacular in itself... Its just... I wasn't exactly having a great time. For the rest of the night I tried not to meet the eyes of anyone on my table (despite Kyle constantly nudging me with his feet) and just focused on what the Headmaster was saying and what I was eating. I recalled what I would have been doing that time last year: Giggling with mum and Marco, eating terrible muggle food and wondering what Jake was doing. Jake! A pang of sorrow stabbed into my heart and, for the second time that night, I was on the verge of tears. I could feel it bubbling at the back of my throat, my chin starting to wrinkle and quiver, my eyes got blurry, I couldn't swallow, the edges of my lips turned downwards. Just before the tears escaped though, I swallowed down the feeling and felt the tears squirm back down my throat. I could cry in bed.

And cry I did. I was in an emerald room with stone walls and a generally cold atmosphere. I was in a room with four other girls all my age but none of them appealed to me. I was in a room which held no future for me. General chatter woke me from my sleep and I bitterly thought to myself, 'Day One of my perfect nightmare.' I skipped breakfast as I had gotten up too early but still found a neatly wrapped piece of parchment on top of my unopened chest. It had my name soaked into it with purple ink and I snapped open the red Hogwarts seal on the back. Underneath the seal was the same purple ink which said: "Here is your timetable for the year. I didn't want to wake you. -Tia". I recalled that Tia was the name of one of the girls in my dormitory. Why was everyone in Slytherin being so nice? Anyway, I slid the paper open and let the envelope flutter onto my mattress. It was a Monday that day and already ten to nine in the morning. Apparently my lessons started at nine. Crap! I was going to be late for my first day. As I later rushed down the halls at three to nine, the paper almost flew into my hand as I read what I had first period (in the five period day). Period One: History of Magic. Jake had said that the class was somewhat enjoyable. Then again, Jake did find most of his classes "somewhat enjoyable". I managed to skid down the correct corner, pull the textbook out of my bag and file into the classroom at the same time as the rest of the students. I found a spare seat besides a red haired girl with freckles and a tall olive-skinned boy silky hair. I puffed out my lips with a sigh of exhaustion and relief before placing 'A History of Magic', my ink, quill and wand on the desk. The teacher held her hands behind her back and grinned at each of us in turn. I recognised her from the night before... The Deputy Headmaster! Her silver eyes fell on me, situated near the back of the classroom, and she smiled like always. When she had finished smiling her wand flew into her hands and she flicked it at the board behind her. Silver letters appeared on the blackboard in handwriting which seemed, to me, like calligraphy.

When the writing had stopped, the professor spoke, "Hello class. As you can see by the board, I am Professor Vant and for this year I shall have the pleasure of being your History of Magic teacher. I sincerely hope that all of you enjoy your time at Hogwarts and especially enjoy your lessons with me. Now, History of Magic is the study of the magical history of the Wizarding world. These lessons mainly consist of lectures which you will need to write down in note forms. Especially important facts, names and dates will appear on the board behind me as I talk but in order to get a good grade in your end of year exams, you will need a lot more information than that. You may use your textbooks to help you in class and for homework. At the beginning of each lesson I will give you the corresponding pages of the textbook to what I will be discussing that lesson. Everybody understand? Good good. I want to kick start this year with a lecture on some of the notable, and notorious, wizards of the Middle Ages. I think it will be fitting if the first people - or rather, group of people - we learn about are the founding members of Hogwarts. Each one of these witches and wizards had many good points and bad points so please get these down into your notes as I tell you them. First off, we will be looking at Salazar Slytherin. Please look at pages 10, 11 and 12 in your textbook."

The professor gave a little cough before carrying on.

"Salazar Slytherin was a pure-blood wizard who was born sometime during the 10th Century. We are not exactly sure when he was born but we know it was sometime then. He was a Parselmouth and an expert Legilimens, and is also known to have co-founded Hogwarts, founded Slytherin house, bred a basilisk and built the Chamber of Secrets. Like Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor, Slytherin appears to have carefully selected members of his own House. The qualities which he prized in his handpicked students included resourcefulness, cleverness, determination, and a certain disregard for the rules, along with the ability to speak Parseltongue. He also selected his students according to cunning, ambition, and blood purity. The last quality is what ultimately led to his fall-out with the rest of his founders and to him leaving the school, never to return. It appears that he found students of muggle-born families to be untrustworthy and would rather have had solely students who were pure-blood. When he left the school he constructed the Chamber of Secrets which contained a basilisk. We now know that the purpose of it was to rid the school of all its muggle-born pupils and, due to this, many Hogwarts historians have made some presumptions on Slytherin's personality. You can read about some of these in your textbook. Unfortunately it seems to be the end of the lesson. For homework I would like you to write an essay which discusses the following question: 'Salazar Slytherin was evil.' How far do you agree with this quote? It would be helpful for you to refer to his motives behind the Chamber of Secrets and the fact that he was a Parselmouth which, when you read what Parselmouths were considered to be, could help you think about what people used to think about him. When you have packed up, you may go."

My hand was aching after that lesson and I already felt drained. I dreaded having to do the homework which seemed to require a lot more than just copying down the notes. The professor was nice enough but it was just the thought of spending week after week scribbling points down and writing lengthy essays for homework. There was something good about that lesson though. I think that was the turning point for my feelings towards Slytherin students and myself. We weren't just cunning, we were also clever, ambitious, resourceful and determined. Thankfully, Professor Vant's lecture had put my mind to rest. It still felt like I had betrayed my family though by not being clever enough to be sorted into Ravenclaw. Two bodies brushed against me on my way out of the classroom. The red head who sat next to me in History of Magic class was on one side and Levi was on the other, his pale hand grasping my robes. The red haired girl smiled and introduced herself as Tia, the one who had given me my timetable. I thanked her and we spoke for a few minutes about the lesson before she hurried off to her Flying lessons.

"What do you have next?" I asked the small boy behind me.

Levi blinked up at me with pale blue eyes, "Transfiguration."

"Like me then." We walked the rest of the way in silence while everyone around us was shouting. We had to climb three flights of stairs to get to the third floor which is where our Transfiguration lesson took place. A balding, middle-aged man was waiting outside and beckoned for us to enter the room when he saw us. The room was had a tall ceiling and a large space at the front of the classroom. A wide range of furniture littered the edges of the room and many voices filled the air which belonged to the animals swinging from cages near the back of the room. I hoped that the lesson would be more exciting than the one I had just had. Ten more students filed into the classroom until the professor finally entered. He strode to the front of the classroom and picked up his wand from his desk. It was much shorter than my own but, according to Jake, my wand was abnormally long anyway.

"Transfiguration is a hard subject. It requires effort, skill and determination. It is also a very complex subject so I expect all of my students to listen and be attentive in my lessons. All homework should also be done in the same manner and be in on time. If it is not then an automatic detention will be put in place... I am Professor Colonia. When you speak to me you shall address me as Professor or Professor Colonia. Transfiguration is four times a week. Unfortunately we do not have any double lessons this year so there shall be more homework for you... If you have not already, get out your textbook and other suitable supplies. I am going to show you what Transfiguration is all about. You", Professor Colonia pointed a stubby finger at a small boy at the front of the classroom, "Give me your textbook. Yes, that one. Place it on the floor now."

The professor pointed his wand at the book, made precise wand movements and called, "Avifors." A lightning blue light errupted from the man's wand and the book transformed into an equally blue bird which flittered around the classroom and settled itself onto the boy's desk before turning back into his textbook.

"That was a transformation spell and one that you will learn later on in the year. There are four branches of Transfiguration: Transformation, Vanishment, Conjuration and Untransfiguration. Out of the four branches, Transformation is the easiest, although it is still not to be taken lightly. I shall elaborate on what each branch includes - You!" The professor stared hard at a girl to my left who seemed to be staring into space, "Why aren't you writing this down? That's your first warning. If I catch you doing that again then it will be an automatic detention and extra homework. Where was I? Hmmm, yes. Transformation is any Transfiguration spell which alters the target. The Avifors spell being an example of this. Transformation itself is divided into three different sub-branches. These are: Human Transfiguration, Switching and Sub-species Transformations. Human Transfiguration is a type of Transformation spell where the target or end product is a human. This also includes Werewolves, Metamorphmagi and Animagi. Can somebody tell me what these are?"

A Gryffindor student raised his hand and the professor pointed at him. "Werewolves are humans who can turn into a half-wolf during a full moon. A Metamorphagus is a human who can transform their features at will. An Animagus is somebody who can turn into an animal at will."

The professor bobbed his head at the answer, "Fifteen points for Gryffindor. I would expect that degree of knowledge from all First Years. We go into more detail on each of these in the Third Year but a brief understanding is needed. The other two sub-branches of Transformation are not needed for the end of this year's exam. Vanishment is when a spell causes the target to vanish. Conjuration is the opposite of this and is when a spell causes something to come in being. Untransfiguration is when you reverse a previous Transfiguration spell, like I did before when the bird turned back into a textbook. That is all for this lesson. For homework write a short piece on how you can tell which branch of Transfiguration a spell fits into. For example you could write about why the Avifors spell is a Transformation spell and not a Conjuration spell. Pack up quietly."

I had only been through two hours worth of lessons but already I felt like I had loved through ten times that amount as I stumbled out of the Transfiguration classroom.


	4. Chapter 4: A Period Alone

**A/N: Sorry everyone for the really short chapter. I hope that my next one will be much longer and much better. -RS**

Recess was between the second and third periods and lasted for fifteen minutes. I spent that fifteen minutes sat on a bench next to Levi and a group of fifth year Hufflepuffs. I unfolded my timetable to peer at what I had next period. Levi mirrored me. Next I had Defence Against the Dark Arts. Next Levi had Herbology. He groaned and stared at me with his pale blue eyes. "The Herbology greenhouses are a long walk away from the castle... I better start walking soon."

"I'm on the second floor. Not that far away from here."

The rest of the break was washed away in our silence until Levi got to his feet and, without turning round, said, "Meet me here for lunch break." He then turned his head slightly, smiled, and picked up his bag. That boy was a strange one. I wandered to my Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and found it near but empty save for one other student and the teacher. The professor glanced up from the writing on the board and beamed at me with chocolate brown eyes and tossed his chocolate brown hair out of his face.

"Welcome welcome! So glad there are students eager to come early to my lesson. Come, sit next to Kenny," he gestured to the curly haired boy with glasses. "I'm just finishing the brief notes on Curse of the Bogies. If you two get these down now then there'll be more time for you to do practical work. The writing on the board stopped with a light tap and I hurried to get the notes down before anybody else had even walked through the door. The professor kept smiling warmly at me, his hair constantly flopping back down into his face though. He couldn't have been older than Professor Vent (who was still surprisingly young herself) and definitely younger than my mother. I guessed that this was his first time teaching. Finally, the rest of the class drifted in and, to me, they looked a little pompous. I spied the crimson lion embodied into most of their robes, emerald green on others. The young professor slammed the doors shut with a flick of his wand when the last person came in and grinned at the class. He then set his desk on fire, doused it with water and then turned it into a lavish cushioned chair all within the space of a few seconds. The class stared at him with gaping mouths and widened eyes.

"Hi guys! I'm Professor Brown. Unfortunately those three spells aren't covered in the spoke of this lesson but, if you keep with the subject at N.E.W.T. level then we use it in duelling. But this is First Year DADA and this lesson we'll be looking at the Curse of the Bogies! I thought we'd start with something funny for our first lesson and no doubt watching somebody with an uncontrollable runny nose will leave some of you in hysterics. Now if you just settle down for a few moments and copy the notes off the board then you can get on with practising it. When you have copied the notes please take one of these", he transformed a pack of playing cards into large grotesque toads, "And see if you can give it a bad case of the common cold. Next lesson, if you've all managed to do it, we'll move onto duel etiquette and how to use this curse in a duel."

We all spent the rest of the lesson saying the incantation and seeing if there was any difference with our toad. Kenny did it after a few tries and Professor Brown made him go to the front to show the entire class. By the end of the lesson, most of us hadn't properly done it but I had made a small trickle of green slime appear on the face of my own toad. It wasn't much but at least it was more than what some of the class had done. At the end of the lesson the professor announced that there would be no homework that night because of how hard we had all worked. In truth most had made no progress and I think he was just trying to make us like him. After class I waited on the bench which Levi asked me to wait on. I was only there because I had nobody else to keep me company and go to lunch with. He finally came, a smear of soil across his cheek and a reddened face came with him too.

I giggled and told him. "Wipe your face!" His face got even redder when he used the edges of his sleeve to clear his face. Levi then puffed out his lips with his breath and almost collapsed onto the bench. "Tough class?" I asked with genuine concern. He looked practically ill.

"I think... I might not have a talent for plants." He smiled a goofy smile and, for just a second, he looked almost identical to Terin. I think I might have been staring at him for a bit too long because he stopped smiling and instantly started wiping his face again, getting flustered because he thought there was more soil spread around his other cheek. Levi instantly stopped though when a large grumbling came from my midsection. I just remembered how hungry. I was due to skipping breakfast. "We're going to lunch... Now," Levi demanded and let me lead the way, gripping onto me whenever we passed a large group of older students. Other than that Levi seemed to surge through the castle until we arrived at the open double doors of the Great Hall. It looked different at lunch time than it did for the Opening Ceremony in that there did not seem to be specified tables for the different houses, the teachers would drift in and out (as did the pupils) and the food wasn't as grand or plentiful but no doubt just as delicious. I saw Kyle chatting away with three girls sat around him while Terin spooned food onto everyone's plates. Levi was already making his way over to them before I could even open my mouth in protest.


End file.
